Blow to Sunak campaign as ex-candidate backs rival for UK PM


2 min read
Read later
Print
Share

Liz Truss I Photo: AFP

London: Rishi Sunak's campaign to be elected the Conservative Party leader and the next British Prime Minister suffered a blow on Saturday as a former candidate endorsed his rival Foreign Secretary Liz Truss.

Tom Tugendhat, the Tory backbencher and chair of the Commons Foreign Affairs Committee who was in the initial shortlist before being knocked out of the race earlier this month, said he preferred Truss' campaign pitch with its promise of immediate tax cuts.

The former soldier in the British Army said that after watching the candidates go head-to-head in live TV debates, "only one has convinced me she's ready".

“Liz has always stood up for British values at home, and abroad. With her at the helm, I have no doubt that we will move with determination to make this country safer and more secure,” he writes in ‘The Times' newspaper.

He said both contenders have "huge qualities and many talents" but Truss has an advantage on the world stage because of her Cabinet position.

“As foreign secretary, Liz is starting with a huge advantage. She can make our voice count,” he writes.

It follows the endorsement of another Tory heavyweight Defence Secretary Ben Wallace, who also threw his support behind Truss — describing her as "authentic, honest and experienced".

Sunak was initially the frontrunner in the race in the ballots of his party colleagues, winning the most support from MPs in the first few rounds of voting. But since then, polling among the Tory membership that will vote for the winner has shown Truss is more popular.

According to another report in ‘The Times', even Sunak's former boss is feeling sorry for him.

He told friends he did not think that Sunak, the man he blames for his downfall, was going to make it.

“He almost feels sorry for him,” a friend of Johnson's was quoted as saying.

“[Rishi] got in with a crowd of malcontents who used him as part of their vendetta against Boris. What future is there for him now?” it said.

The two finalists are next scheduled to go head-to-head in the TV debate on Thursday, when the first postal ballot papers will start landing at Tory members' addresses.

PTI

Add Comment
Related Topics

Get daily updates from Mathrubhumi.com

Newsletter
Youtube
Telegram
Disclaimer: Kindly avoid objectionable, derogatory, unlawful and lewd comments, while responding to reports. Such comments are punishable under cyber laws. Please keep away from personal attacks. The opinions expressed here are the personal opinions of readers and not that of Mathrubhumi.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
Flags

2 min

India, Canada row didn’t come up in Jaishankar’s meeting with Blinken: US

Sep 28, 2023


Justin Trudeau

4 min

Nijjar killing: Justin Trudeau’s statement irresponsible, says Indian diaspora in Canada

Sep 28, 2023


modi, trudeau

3 min

If US has to choose between two friends, it will choose India: Former Pentagon official

Sep 23, 2023